Keith wasn't anxious.

No.

He was just fidgety with how slow time seemed to go by, that was all. What was worse, he wasn't able to sleep last night. You could completely blame it on the side effect on the drug and it was definitely not because he was excited for Lance and his date tomorrow. Definitely not that.

"Hey," Lance's hand grazes his wrist, startling him "Look at this," he lifts up a strange looking bug that was sitting on his finger. Keith pretends to be interested in it, taking the chance to admire Lance's face as he leaned in.

He watches Lance's long eye lashes bat against smooth cheeks then trails his eyes down to the the soft plumpness of his lips-

"It's cute," Lance mouth moves and Keith feels paralyzed at the utter beauty of this boy before him. Blinking a few times, he nods in agreement, stepping back.

They were picking Ruru up from school, or her educational facility as Dravla calls it. Coeihn children were spilling out of the building, laughing and running off to enjoy the rest of their afternoon. When Ruru approached them, she was surrounded by a little group, all smiling and talking to her. She had really come far from when they first met her, and had begun to make friends easily, despite her leg braces.

"Lala! Keef!' she waves to them, running to hug them both.

Lance greets her with a hug, asking about her day then waving at her friend, "Hey, Alba,"

"...Holle," the small Coeihn boy waves back

("Alba, no! Hello! It's hello!") Ruru tells him, (But you were so close! Soooo close!)"

Blushing a little, Alba steps behind his other friends, two Coeihns that Lance and Keith had yet to meet. The two of them were blinking at Keith and Lance curiously.

"This is Zeeva and Lomi," Ruru tells them. The two seemed to be close, holding each other's hands and pressed against the other tightly.

"Hi kids," Lance gushes at them. They blink at him, then glance at each other. Smiling and bumping their foreheads together, they step back.

"Elmo!' they wave

Ruru slaps her forehead, ("Noooo! I told you! It's Hello! Not Elmo. Not Holle. Not Hola")

"Hola," Lance says only understanding that word from Ruru. Ruru pauses to look at him, confused. Deciding it would be best not to bring Spanish into this, Lance pretends to be joking.

"We should be off, Ruru,"

Waving goodbye to Ruru's friends, they return to the house for the rest of the day. Lance acted like nothing was different, joking and laughing, almost mocking Keith's breaking mentality.

He was going nuts.

All he could think about was tomorrow.

The date.

What in the world was Lance even planning to do? He said he wanted a day to prepare, but Lance hadn't done anything about it since they agreed. If he wasn't going to put any preparation into the date they should just have it now.

Or perhaps he was being impatient? Keith always hated waiting.

He just never thought he would be this thrilled to go on a date before. It isn't like he hasn't gone on a date with Lance before. He went with him to that equivalent bond festival and spent the whole day with him then.

But that was an out of the blue date where neither of them had much time to prepare. Lance acted as if he was going to do something worth wild with this next one, so you couldn't blame Keith for getting excited, right?

Letting that topic torment his every thought, he trudged his way through the day till it was finally time to return back to the apartment and go to sleep.

He tried to act casual as Lance readied for bed. He was humming, without a care in the world. "So um…" Keith slipped under the covers, watching him cautiously, "Tomorrow…" he trails off. When Lance doesn't say anything to rebuttal, he tucks himself deeper into the sheets, "Good night," he says, nervous, and waiting for something- anything- to happen.

"I'll woo you," Lance promises him, sitting down on the bed,

"Huh?"

"During the date. I'll sweep you right off your feet, Keith," He looks so positive in this, so determined and convinced to make that promise a reality- it sends Keith staggering. "So sleep tight," Lance hums, kissing his forehead before rolling over to the other side of the bed. Letting the feeling linger, Keith snuggles into his blanket, staring at Lance's back.

Nothing today.

But tomorrow…

Tomorrow, Keith assures himself.

He closes his eyes, attempting to will himself to sleep. Tomorrow was the date. Just go to sleep and tomorrow will be here already.

That was easier said than done.

Through a great mental battle and exhaustion from having gotten little sleep the previous night, Keith eventually met with slumber.

When he awoke, Lance was gone.

Keith called his name as he sat up, but his voice only echoed. "Hey…. Lance?" he tries again. Feeling his heart drop to the pits of his stomach, he moved to get up and go looking for him, worried that perhaps something bad had happened or Lance had backed out of the date.

He wasn't sure what was better or worse.

Moving the blanket from his legs, Keith paused at how the sheets felt slightly heavier than usual. Looking down, his breath caught in his throat.

Petals.

Flower petals covered their bed

Not sure what was happening, or how Lance managed to pull this off without waking him up, he peeked over the side of the mattress to find that these mysterious petals covered their entire floor. This obviously has to be Lance's doing, right?

Getting up, Keith tossed on his jacket and shoes and followed the trail to the door.

A small note was taped to it.

"Dear Keith, I hope you don't mind the petals, but I made you a promise. I'm going to woo you off your feet, Kogane, so you better be prepared. I have a request for you first. I need you to follow the petals. And don't laugh, cause I worked hard on those lines."

Not sure what that meant, Keith plucked the note off and opened the door. The flower petals lead out the door and down the hall. He follows them obediently, his skin prickled with excitement.

A little ways down, right before the petals turned down the second hall, there was another note.

"Are you a camera? Because every time I look at you, I smile." You got the best smile in the whole galaxy, Keith. Oh, and just so there isn't any confusion, cause I know you Keith, and sometimes you can get pretty oblivious; I'm hitting on you right now.

Keith kept walking, his legs feeling weak. He was mesmerized by the note till a third one came in front of him, smacking him in the face.

It was almost as if Lance knew Keith would get dazed from the second note and strategically planned the third one to be hanging from the ceiling so Keith was forced to run into it- making sure it caught his attention.

"You look so familiar... didn't we take a class together? I could've sworn we had chemistry." And just so you know, since you seem to have forgotten, we did indeed have a chemistry class together. I guess it must have been fate~

Keith was floundering, his vision almost blurry. It was too early in the morning for something as amazing as this. He wasn't prepared.

Leaning against the wall, he took a moment to re-read the three little notes, absorbing each word one by one and holding them safely to his chest. When he finally found the courage to keep going, finding himself rounding each floor of this apartment building, apparently heading up to the roof, he found a few more notes.

"Sweetheart, your beauty makes the morning sun look like the dull glimmer of the moon," Everyone here calls you exquisite- you know, because of your hair and skin. Like snow white or something… They are spot on Keith. You're beautiful.

Taking each note with him, feeling protective of them, Keith gasps for air as he climbs the last flight of steps to the roof. At the door to it, there is one last note.

"Let me tie your shoes, cause I don't want you falling for anyone else," Keith, you are probably the only person in this whole galaxy that I can confidently say I would want to become equivalents with."

Swinging open the door, Keith stepped out. Lance was waiting for him at the top.

He turns at the sound of the door opening and welcomes Keith with a smile. His eyes are shining, his hair neatly brushed and his shirt skin tight, hugging his chest pleasingly, "Morning, sweetheart,"

Keith steps towards him, takes his face into his hands and kisses him.

Lance takes only a second to respond, smiling against Keith's lips.

"I take it you liked the notes?" he inquires as they step away. When Keith doesn't answer right away, Lance grows a little nervous.

"I loved them," Keith chokes out, burying his face into Lance's neck. No one had ever put that much time into anything to give Keith. It was a little overwhelming.

Patting his back, Lance sighs in relief, "Oh. good. Well, it isn't over yet." he brings a box into Keith's hands, "Put that on and then go downstairs,"

Confused, Keith takes the box, "What is it?"

"Tellru made it," Lance winks, stepping back. Keith scrambles to grab his arm, unable to handle Lance leaving now, of all times. Not when Keith was so infatuated.

The date was finally here and in his grasp- Lance finally in his grasp. There is no way he could just let him go now.

"You're leaving already?" he gasps at him. Lance looks startled, not sure what to say at first, then grinned.

"Well, I was gonna give you time to change… unless you want me to help you," his finger poked at Keith's stomach, sliding up slowly to the collar of Keith's shirt, where Lance proceeded to give it a teasing tug.

Flushing at the suggestion, Keith reluctantly releases Lance's sleeve.

"I'm fine."

"Then I will see you on the bottom floor," Lance pecks his forehead with a kiss and runs off the roof, booking it down the stairs like a mad man on a mission.

Feeling a longing to see Lance just as soon as he disappeared, Keith rushes to get dressed. He barely looks at the outfit before throwing it on. It's soft, and kind of loose, making it feel kind of casual. Fancy casual, or something like that.

Running after Lance, carefully folding the notes in his pocket, Keith is surprised to find Tellru waiting for him on the bottom floor.

"Tellru?"

"Hello, Keith," she gushes, "I'm here to pick you up,"

"Pick me up?" he looks around for Lance, but can't find him. Taking a moment to notice Tellru is hiding something behind her back, he frowns suspiciously, "Does he have you involved with this?" he asks, wondering if Lance had gotten help to pull all of this off.

Instead of answering, Tellru chuckles and bends down, holding something out to him.

Red.

And not the color- no, it was a large stuffed animal in the shape of the Red Lion of Voltron.

"How did he-?" Keith takes it without much thought, examining it. Something about it seemed a little rushed, and kind of messy, some stitches better than others. The front of the leg were huge compared to the rest of its body, but Keith didn't mind it. In fact, he actually felt very fond of the little creation.

"Lance made it," Tellru announces, "He asked me to show him."

It was only now that Keith recalled the day before. Many times throughout the day, Ruru or Dravla would distract him for a few hours, dragging him places or taking something of his that would force him to hunt the two down.

He hadn't even thought that this had been a tactic to distract him as Lance planned for the date.

"For how little time we had, I'm surprised how well it turned out," Tellru chuckles, "Come this way,"

He follows her, confused and pressing the large red doll close to his chest. It was big enough to snuggle with if he chose to.

"So um… where are we going?" he asked her.

"Surprise~"

Not sure if he trusted her with this, Keith followed quietly. After a while, the farther they got, the more nervous he began to feel.

He plucked anxiously at the collar of his shirt as they walked. It felt tight, choking him as Tellru lead him to this mysterious meeting spot. Was he under dressed? Lance picked the outfit so probably not. Did he look okay? His hair felt messed up, his posture was probably terrible- he couldn't do this.

He was going to mess this up!

They were complete opposites, if Keith had to be honest. He was stoic, quick-tempered, and awkward to others, while Lance… Lance, was perfect. Outgoing, great with people, patient when it was needed but willing to go the lengths to get a laugh from someone if times were tough… even if it was at his own expense.

This self-conscious doubt was feeding Keith's mind with dark thoughts- forcing him to question what Lance saw in him.

"Tellru," his voice comes out crackly.

She glances over her shoulder, "Yes?"

"How do I look?" he motions down to himself, staring at his feet as they walked.

"You look wonderful, Keith," Tellru assures him kindly, patting his head. She pauses, then flattens out a certain spot. Like a mother getting her child ready for picture day, she brushes some bangs out of his face, changes her mind, then put them back, just to change her mind again. They end up pausing along the street for a while, fussing over Keith's attire.

"Maybe we should comb it back?" she mutters, messing with his hair.

"Would that look okay?" Keith questions her.

She takes a moment to try it, combing it back with her hand. Taking a step back to examine him, she hums in thought, "Maybe….?"

"Tellru, I'm running out of time. Lance is going to see me and he might- I want to look-" he cuts off, messing his hair back into it's usual place. "I don't want to mess this up," he whispers.

"You won't," his friend muses, "Lance likes you for you, Keith. Just be yourself."

Keith lowers his gaze and nods. Be himself. Just be himself.

"I'm kind of... boring," He tells her.

She quirks an eyebrow, "Really? I definitely wouldn't say you are," she chuckles, pulling something from her pocket. "Here," taking his hair, she tied it to the side, giving it a slight design, "Now, come along and stop fussing," she instructs.

Following her along the buildings, Keith was taken down the street where Ruru met them at the end of the block.

"Ruru?" he asks her. She hands Keith a batch of hand made cookies that were placed in a little baggie. Lance and her had made them together.

"How many people did he get involved with this?" Keith questions despite how happy he is to receive the gift.

"Like we wouldn't get involved with this," Tellru snorts, "Come on." Ruru and Tellru both lead him to another area, saying nothing but giving him little smiles. It makes him blush and stare at his feet to avoid their giggling.

When they arrived, Dravla is standing there, grinning like there is no tomorrow, "Keith," he greets, holding something out to him. Realizing it's a bouquet of flowers, Keith maneuvers a way to carry all the gifts at once.

"Where is Lance?" he asks. The three Coeihns smile at each other than step to the side to reveal the blue paladin, standing on the steps of the fountain. A Coeihn band stands below him and begin to strum a song.

"Keith!" Lance waves to him, "You seemed to like the last time I sang, so I hope you don't mind- but I got a little number planned for you~"

"What?"

Winking at him, Lance clears his throat and begins to sing. It echoes, like a chiming bell. He isn't singing in English, but instead his mother tongue; Spanish. Keith doesn't understand a single word, but that is okay. Because the sound of the words, the look in Lance's eyes, and the pounding of his own heart is enough to make Keith feel like he's falling.

"Oh my god…" Keith doesn't know if he should hide under a rock from embarrassment or cry.

Lance is moving around the fountain in elegant strides, his new outfit hugging his form in all the right ways. His hair is combed back, his glasses making his eyes shine, and he couldn't be smiling wide enough.

Keith wondered if he somehow wandered into some sort of romance novel? There is no way that this was really happening.

Keith was honestly waiting for the moment he would wake up from this perfect dream. When he didn't, he knees almost buckled and Lance steps away from the fountain.

Swooping Keith into his arms, still singing a gentle melody, he swayed them back and forth, like a dance.

Caught up in his eyes, Keith didn't realize when Lance had stopped singing, barely managing to gasp before Lance dipped him, following after him to share a passionate kiss.

He faintly hears their friendly little Coeihn family whooping and cheering in the background. It's white noise with Lance's lips upon his...

Pulling them up for air, Lance smiles sheepishly. Keith makes incoherent noises, too flabbergasted. "W-Wha…"

Lance takes pride in Keith's reaction and kisses his cheek. "We're not done yet." He tells him, stepping back then moving to run off again.

Keith snags his wrist, "You're leaving again?" he gapes at him. "No…"

Lance sneaks attacks him when he grips his jaw between his slender fingers and lifts his chin. With a kiss that didn't last nearly as long as Keith wanted, Lance stepped back to smirk.

"Can't get enough of me, huh?"

Stammering to fight a blush, Keith frowns at him, falling directly into Lance's trap, "McClaine!" he bellows

"Just follow Tellru," Lance laughs as he backs up, "It'll be worth it," he assures, turning to run down the road. Watching him go, not sure what else he could do, he sighs and turns to Tellru.

Dravla and Ruru have vanished at this point, leaving just the two of them.
"Where are we going now?" he asks.

"We gotta give him a head start," Tellru says, forcing them to wait near the fountain for a few agonizingly slow couple of minutes. Tapping his foot impatiently, Keith turns to her.

"Now?"

"No."
"...How about now?"
"No,"

He grits his teeth, wanting to pull out his own hair, "Now?"

"You are so impatient today," she chuckles, "I think Lance was right, you just can't get enough of him."

It didn't take a genius to notice that, but Keith wasn't just going to anytime soon, "Shut up," he mumbles, looking away. Chuckling, she pats his shoulder.

"We can go now."

"Finally," he hopes to his feet.

Tellru chuckles at him.

0000-000

They arrive in a small little building a few minutes later. It seems almost abandoned, but there were lights on inside. "Lance specially requested this for the night, so you two shouldn't be disturbed," Tellru takes the gift's Lance had given him, swearing to watch over them for Keith till he was done. Not too willing to part with them, but nodding reluctantly, he follows her around the back.

"He told me to bring you here," Tellru steps to the side, extending out her arm. Following the direction she motioned too, Keith held his breath.

The area was small, and outdoors, but had been decorated it blossoming flowers and small candles that lit the plato in a gentle light. Like a path, the candles lead him to a table,

Keith didn't know how to be romantic, but Lance seemed to excel at it- lathering on the affection, the praises, the small gifts. It was driving Keith crazy, and he legitly thought his heart was going to explode.

Standing awkwardly in front of the table, not sure if he should sit down or not, Keith tenses when two arms wrapped around his torso from behind. "Hello, sweetheart," Lance husks against the back of his neck. Keith was a puddle in his hands.

"H-Hey…"

It was breath taking how instantaneously the choking anxiety vanished- amazing how suddenly the feeling of serenity washed over him - even before they could sit down - as soon as he heard Lance's voice, Keith was calm.

"You're beautiful," Lance pulled out the chair for him. As Keith steps around him to sit down, Lance takes his hand. Lance presses a kiss to the back of it in a smooth elegant bow that makes Keith blush all over again.

His chest was on fire.

It was cheesy. Corny with a capital C, with that Lance flare you knew he was going to bring… and Keith loved every second of it it.

He never thought he would enjoy romantic dinner dates like this and the affection he felt for it, for Lance, was startling.

"Did you plan all of this?" Keith inquired slowly, knowing he was smiling too much, but finding it impossible to stop.

"I told you I wanted this to be perfect," Lance winks at him, "And I plan to keep up on that," reaching across the table, he takes Keith's hand into his own,

It's only then that Keith notices Lance's equivalent band. Lance had moved it from the necklace around his neck, to his finger. The sight of it made his throat go dry, and his heart sputter.

"You hungry?"

Keith barely heard him, "H-Huh?" he inquires, mesmerized.

Lance smiles, "Are you hungry?" he repeats.

"...Yeah,"

With a nod, Lance glances to his right. From the door, someone stepped out in a little waiter's outfit

"I serve," None other than Ruru moved towards their table, "What want?"

Keith snorted into his palm, "Ruru? What are you doing here?"

"Work," she taps her little clipboard, and hands them hand drawn menus. Lance seems to have quickly scribbled down the English translation to the food before Keith arrived.

Scanning it over, Keith asks for something simple. Lance said something similar and Ruru ran off, back into where Keith assumed the kitchen was. It was most likely Dravla or Tellru making the food, since they were usually the ones to do so since they arrived here on this planet.

"Keith," Lance catches his attention. When he looks at him, the blue paladin extends out a bouquet of red flowers.

Taking them, Keith takes a moment to smell them, clutching them close to his chest, "'You didn't have to do all of this, Lance," he tells him quietly, hiding his smile behind the petals

"I disagree," Lance winks, "So let me pamper you for a bit,"
Keith can't come up with anything more than, "Okay," he taps his fingers nervously to the table. "S-So um… This looks amazing," he motions around.

Lance smiles proudly, "Thank you. My Mom was always into candles and said they were the best when it comes to trying to be romantic." he glances at Keith cautiously, daring a response "What do you think? Does this seem romantic?"

Keith nods too quickly, embarrassed and staggering through this. After that, everything feels like flirtation.

Keith is positive he is horrible when it comes to consciously flirting, but that doesn't matter, because Lance makes up for the both of them. He talks and talks, lathering on praises and taking each chance he could to not so subtly tell Keith he was stunning.

Keith's heart is beating too fast, throbbing in his chest. He can hardly speak, forcing himself to say something every few minutes. He want to compliment Lance and tell him how charming he looks in this lighting. How soft his skin is, or mesmerizing his eyes could draw him in.

He falters and ends up making some odd and very nervous sounding laughter. Lance's eyes fill with affection, his smile curling along his lips. Keith gazes lowers to watch the action, drawn to Lance's mouth then snapping back up to remind himself to breath.

At some point, Keith can feel Lance's foot nudging against his own underneath the table. There was a term to refer to this action. Something about feet, but Keith couldn't recall! It was suppose to be flirting when you bumped feet.

Footsy or something!

He knows he should do it back, but Lance's foot brushing over his ankle is making him shiver.

Sweet Parlog… he could die happy by the end of tonight.

"You okay there, Keith?" Lance inquires, smirking slightly at Keith's flustered face.

"F-Fine," he nods.

Lance smiles.

Yup. Keith could die happy. He could leave this world with just the memories of this night and that would be enough for him.

And the way Lance talks to him with an unwavering smile, his attention never leaving Keith's face. It dazzling.

He speaks of why he wanted to be a pilot, how much Shiro had inspired him back in Garrison. He tells Keith that he always thought Keith's sense of flying was almost poetic- like Keith was dancing in the skies.

Keith inhales, "I don't- I don't know what to say," he admits to him.

"It's okay," Lance tells him, "I'm just kind of saying whatever comes to mind. You can do the same. Whatever it is, I want to hear it."
Keith takes him up on that, apologizing that he can't remember much of Lance from their Garrison days. "I can't remember too many people, honestly. Shiro was the only person I really talked to. I don't even remember most of the teacher's name,"
"It's fine," Lance looks almost shocked with himself for accepting this, "I mean, at first I was kind of upset you didn't, but it doesn't really matter now."

"You were upset?"
"You were always the best in the class. I was-" Lance makes a cringing noise, "I was jealous," he admits quietly, "I didn't really know you then and just kind of assumed you were stuck up with how you didn't talk to anyone. I assumed you thought you were better than everyone else there. I know now that wasn't the case,"

Keith raised his eyebrow, curious, "Oh?"

"Yeah. You were probably just too awkward to start a conversation with anyway," he openly teased, smirking slyly. Keith almost reaches over to hit him, but Lance honestly wasn't that far off. Keith didn't know how to speak to others so he just didn't.

It was easier that way, and it left him in a bubble that he felt comfortable with. The bubble never usually betrayed him- till this evening.

Now he wanted nothing more than to pop it and offer as much conversation as Lance was pushing for- but the bubble was persistent. His mind would run blank, his attention falling on Lance's face too often and his mind getting swept up by sweet words.

"You might be right," he exhaled steadily.

"I know I'm right," Lance tilts his head and grins from ear to ear, like he's gotten Keith all figured out and is just so proud of that. "You may try to hide it Keith, but you are pretty open person once someone gets to know you."

"Am I?"

"Yeah. It's pretty amazing though, so don't think less of yourself about that. It's nice that you are so open and honest."

Keith lowers his gaze, nodding meekly, "Oh. Thank you,"

At some point, Ruru brought them bread, but Keith was too caught up in Lance's story to notice. He eventually remembers to eat when Lance stops his story to grab some of the bread. They share a pause to simple chew.

Keith didn't dare try to speak with his mouth full. Usually he never cared if he did, but he was feeling self conscious with Lance right in front of him.

"Hey," Lance says.
Keith is mid chew and freezes up. Embarrassed, he lifts a hand to cover his mouth, "What?"

Lance chuckles a little, "First, you're adorable. Second, want some entertainment?"

Keith chokes a little, "...W-What sort?" he is glad his palm is up to his face to hid the red in his cheeks.

Instead of answering, Lance claps his hands. From the roof above, something comes crashing down.

"Hey there." Dravla stands up and waves at them. Keith chokes a little on his food. "I'm your entertainment for today," he pulls out two spears, each covered it wet cloth at the end. Placing them to the fire, the ends of the spears set aflame and Dravla began to twirl them like some expert fire dancer.

"Though I don't really see how people find this entertaining…" he shrugs casually, flipping them. "Lance insists that this is, cool,"

"It is," Lance agrees

"But it's hot."

"It's cool as in it's awesome," Lance chides.

Instead of pointing out how nothing about that made sense to him, Dravla decides to let it be and steps back to toss the spears and catch them.

Lance cheers. Dravla approves slightly. Spinning the spears a few more times, he blows them out before flipping out of the room. Slipping at the last flip he lands flat on his face and practically slides back into the house. A crash followed, followed by a few curses, covered up by childish remarks about ice cream, so Ruru wouldn't hear them.

"Well- you came through on entertainment," Keith snorts.

"That is only the beginning."

Keith wasn't sure he could handle more.

Lance was so much more than he had expected when first meeting him. He was more than just a delicious body and a smile that came out of nowhere to light up the darkness of this hopeless galaxy.

He was…

Keith didn't even know how to describe him. Any description would fall short. He could praises him to the ends of time, and it still wouldn't be enough.

When Lance's hand slide across the table, quietly taking Keith's palm, their gazes lock.

Holding his breath, Keith blinked at him curiously, "What?" he inquires after the prolonged silence.

"You gotta be honest," Lance says, anxious, "You enjoying this?"

"I love it," Keith states the answer before his mind can even register his response. Lance's smile was breathtaking.

"Me too," he brushes his thumbs along Keith's knuckles, bending his back a little to kiss the top of them.

Not sure what else to talk about, too nervous to think about anything, Keith is thrilled when a topic comes to his mind, "I've never really gone out to eat too much like this before," he admits, "Back with my Dad, he usually made dinner, so we stayed at home, and then I just made whatever for myself."
"You a good cook?"

"I get by,"

"I can make cereal- that's it,"

"To some, that still might be considered impressive," Keith offers him. He feels prideful when Lance chuckles, titling his head to grin a little. "Nothing compares to my Dad's cooking though. He had a way with spices. He taught me everything I know,"

"Even how to pilot?"

"More or less. Shiro taught me a little more. My Dad showed me how to survive. How to hunt, cook, clean and build. He was great…" Keith smiles to himself, nostalgic, "He liked to greet me a lot, too,"

"Greet you?" Lance inquires.

"Every time I ran in he would say "welcome home" even if I was only gone for a few minutes…" Keith chuckled a little, "I always loved that."

Lance listens with a little smile, watching the way Keith talked- the way his eyes would shine.

"I like when you talk about your Dad," Lance admits to him, "He sounds a lot like you,"

"Really?" Keith asks, "I guess I kind of looked like him… a little. He always says I took more after my Mom with my temper and stuff. My Dad was always sticking up for the little guy more. Doing what was right."'

'You do that," Lance tells him, startling him. "You are quick to pull out your Bayard, yeah, but for the right reasons. I mean, you are the only one who never doubted their choice as a paladin. Most everyone else wanted to go home, just because being a paladin was such a big responsibility, except for you. Shiro did it I think because he knew what the Galra did, and he didn't want anyone to go through what he did. You did it without any questions. You were told you would be protecting others and taking down this big evil, and you accepted it." Lance looks at their hands, "I always respected that about you,"

"You did?" Keith asks, his voice quiet.

With a nod, Lance smiles, "You stand up for the little guy. You're definitely a lot like your dad,"

Taking in his words, not expecting them to mean so much to him, Keith smiles, "Thank you, Lance."

They talked about their families, then what they had planned on doing after Garrison- despite knowing that wouldn't be a thing now that they were paladins. Keith talked about how his life had changed after being kicked out, and how it wasn't as hard as he thought to live on his own. After a while he just go used to it.

The tough part was not being able to talk to Shiro. Keith had never needed too many people in his life, but Shiro was usually the only one who stuck around. Having him gone was hard, and he missed him a lot.

He was so happy when Shiro crashed down in that Galra escape pod.

When their food arrived, Lance mewled over his dish, "So good," he cooes. Keith is curious to what he got, thinking that it kind of looked like pasta. Sensing his curiosity, Lance twirled some within his fork then extended his arm across the table.

Like those older couple Keith had often seen on Earth, who would cutely hand feed the other, he shyly opens his mouth. Taking a bit of the food, seeing Lance eyed him quizzically for his opinion, he smiles, "It's good."

"Isn't it?" Lance grins. Keith feels like he should return the favor and gives Lance a bite of his dish.

Lance purposively takes his time to bite down on the food, his eyes glinting mischievously. Retracting his hand, feeling heat creeping up his neck, Keith busies himself with stuffing his face.

He heart was going to explode out of his chest by the time dinner was over.

0000000000

When the dinner was said and done, Keith's heart thankfully still in his chest, Lance took Keith's hand. Instead of running off to ready some other event, Lance took Keith for a walk.

The romantic stroll was the perfect way to end the date, and Keith leaned into Lance. Lance smiles and leans back, kissing the top of Keith's head.

They talked, and walked, and laughed and tripped a few times over their own feet.

They even scale up a hill, pointing out to different areas of the city the higher they got till they were finally able to look over the entire kingdom.

Lance brings Keith's face into his hands and smiles at him "Keith," Lance said, his voice full of the same luscious agony Keith felt building inside of his chest all day. "I'm going to kiss you."

He was giving Keith one last chance to back out, to push him away. Like that was ever going to happen

Instead, he willingly swoons when Lance dips him, tilting his chin for a kiss.

As they pull up, Keith is aware of the time slipping away. It was going so quickly that Keith was embarrassingly unwilling to let it end- wishing this single day would last forever. He couldn't waste a single second he had with Lance.

Swaying back and forth, Lance arms around Keith's waist and his circled around Lance's shoulder, they press their forehead together and stared, soaking in the other's eyes.

Lance smiles, quietly inquiring, "What are you thinking about?"

Befuddled, Keith blurted out the truth, "I don't want this to-" he catches himself, but it feels too late to just back down now, "To end."

"Who says it will?" Lance fought back a smile as he bent his head down and touched his lips to the hollow at the base of Keith's throat. "This can go on for as long as you want, Keith,"

"That might be a while," Keith struggles to concentrate. He chokes back a gasp when Lance kisses up his jaw, the attention small but exhilarating. "L...Lance," he warns quietly, already feeling the affect between his legs.

Lance catches on quickly and gasps, "Really, Keith? Right now?"

"Ignore it," Keith insists, trying to catch his breath. .

"We were having a perfectly wonderful evening Keith. How long have you had that?" he motioned to between Keith's legs.

"Ignore. It." he practically pleads, wanting to burying himself 50 feet below ground.

"It is pressing agianst my thigh! I can't just ignore it!" Lance yelled.

"You are ruining the moment, Lance!"
"ME? You are the one ruining the moment!"

"You!" Keith tries to make a grab at him to smack his face, but Lance turns and runs in the opposite direction. A good run was definitely a good way to calm himself down, and they ended up collapsed on a bench, only able to make their way back to the apartment when it got back.

Stumbling into the room like a drunk couple the two giggle and kiss with no coherent pace.

When Lance forced himself to step back, unable to stand Keith's pleading eyes for him to stay, he says, "You still have that side effect,"

Keith groans, "Right," he agrees reluctantly. Smiling at him, Lance pecks his cheek.

"I"m going to go wash my face,"
"Okay…"

Sharing one last lingering kiss, Lance disappears into the bathroom, leaving Keith to his muddled thoughts. Feeling like he was walking on clouds, he took off his jacket, changed into his pajamas, and fell back into the back with a dreamy sigh.

To his delight, the gifts Lance had given him throughout the day were placed to his right by Tellru.

Today had been quite a day. The best day of his life, Keith thinks.

And Lance had given him that. Lance had blessed him with so much joy.

Lance…

He was...

It wasn't till he could hear Lance humming in that bathroom that Keith sat up, realization striking him.

He loved him.

Like a slap to the face he realized he loved the one and only Lance McClaine.

Tossing himself to press his face into the pillow, he was tempted to scream into it- both from embarrassment and joy. He wasn't some hormonal teenager anymore, he was going to be turning 18 here in a few months- he could act maturely about this!

…..

Giggling, he rolls a bit along the bed, too happy to really care about being mature or not.

He was so happy.

He was also really tired.

When Lance comes out of the bathroom, he should tell him he loves him. Or was it too early to declare something like that? They've been here for…

Honestly, Keith was losing track of how long they had been in this strange planet. A few months at least, right? Maybe four. Maybe five?

Five wonderful months with Lance had made him almost spoiled to his attention- but this was a thing, right? They were kind of like boyfriends. They were boyfriends…

He was Lance's boyfriend.

Yawning, his eyelids growing heavy, Keith turns over to curl into the big red lion plushy. It smelled like Lance.

Inhaling his scent, Keith closes his eyes, letting his mind wander.

Five minutes later, lance doesn't know what to say when he returns to bed to find Keith passed out in the middle, snuggled up close to the large Red lion stuffed animal Lance had made him.

"Well…" Lance chuckles, adoring the sight just a little.

Sliding into the bed, allowing Keith most of the room, almost jealous of how close he snuggled with the stuffed animal, Lance chuckles. "G'night, sleeping beauty." he sits up, looming over the other to kiss the top of his forehead. Taking a moment to admire just how handsome keith was, Lance brushes back one of his bangs. "...Love you, mullet" he whispers. Turning over and pulling the blankets up to tuck Keith, Lance felt a wave of exhaustion hit him.

Yawning he shut his eyes, pleased with how perfect this day had ended.

He had planned on telling Keith he loved him when he was done washing his face, but he supposed that his confession could wait for another day.

This was by far, probably the hardest chapter I've head to write. I don't even know why? I just... it was a struggle for some reason.

I've never written a chapter included just a date before XD So I hope it was okay.

Reviews:

Adraianna Agray: Thank you so much!

Zaffrebat17: Yeah. he definitely didn't deserve it :( But thank you so much for taking the time to review and thank you!

AngiMK: PATIENCE YOUNG GRASSHOPPER, GIVE IT SOME CHAPTERS! XD MAYBE 2 or 3, WHO KNOWS? XD

Phoenix51: I am such a tease! I'm sorry! XD (but also not sorry)

Pinkdoughnuts: I can't help it! XD I love to be a tease! I swear, not too much teasing left! ... Maybe a little more teasing XD BUT THEY ARE GETTING SUPER CLOSE, I PROMISE! XD

Ewink18: Oh my gosh thank you! XD I'm so sorry I got in the way of your Klance! They'll get there eventually! XD Promise! You'll see a lot more starting now! :D

Dick-Grayson-Trash: Oh my gosh, you did? Thank you so much ;-; I'm so sorry you were having a bad day. I hope today is a little better though, friend :3 I love you user name by the way. Dick Grayson is one of my favorite heroes :3

Devil Wolf Girl: Ah! I'm sorry about that! I don't know what is wrong with fanfiction. I even double, triple check my chapters, but everytime I click save, it picks a few lines within the chapter and repeats them. I try to catch them the best I can but some always slip by :( But thank you so much for your support :D That means so much to me!